This article calls into question the frequently used negative moral labels assigned to corruption by describing gift giving as a form of narrative entrepreneurship that bridges ontologies between public service organizations. To effectively make the comparison, this article utilizes a unique methodology to explore corruption: the layered account autoethnography. The empirical setting of this story is a jointly operated military corrections facility in Iraq. It illustrates how gaps were perceived in the U.S.–Iraqi joint bureaucracy creating a space for play, and how corrupt behavior metaphorically bridged these gaps. Engaging in a minute form of gift giving provided remarkable insight into how partner organizations respond to traditional and corruption-friendly practices. This article is of benefit to practitioners and academicians alike because it illustrates at an individual level how corrupt bureaucracies function and how to promote successful interactions between alternate organizational ontologies.

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Purpose The heterotopia is frequently portrayed as a third space in organization studies, characterized by its flexibility and receptivity to innovation. Rural entrepreneurship, embodied in the heterotopic space of community-based enterprises (CBEs), is a key concept in emerging economies. Understanding the CBE’s economic and social dynamics is vital for the genesis of entrepreneurship in these spaces, for regional development and for national economies. This paper aims to deep dive into the group dynamics of Villa Ahumada (VA), a well-known subspace located close to the Mexico–USA border, which, despite its market potential, has not been able to support the collectivization required of a CBE. Design/methodology/approach Under a case study design, four deep interviews were conducted, which explore the stories of entrepreneurship in VA and analyze the rich narrative accounts of the participants. Narratives offer opportunities for extending the current conceptualizations of entrepreneurship and its processes. Findings This paper opens a conversation about the negative aspects of heterotopias, especially with regards to entrepreneurship. Much literature has been devoted to the power of rural communities and peasant villages as fertile places for entrepreneurship. They emphasize the role of entrepreneurial culture and governmental support as almost guarantors of entrepreneurial success. This narrative provides one reason for entrepreneurial failure: the deviant heterotopia. Despite government policy that favored collective entrepreneurial efforts, and despite a vibrant underground entrepreneurship culture combined with a valuable brand, entrepreneurship in VA was dead before it started. Originality/value Rural entrepreneurship should be a multidimensional phenomenon focusing upon entrepreneurship, context, group dynamics and social capital; but it has not been interpreted from the perspective of a heterotopia or paratopia.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ideological impasses between educationally minded faculty and neoliberal oriented university administrators. To bridge and benefit from these two perspectives, Follettian integration is introduced. Specifically, the ensemble learning theory (ELT) and entrepreneurship centers are illustrated as Follettian interventions and their reasons for success are discussed. Design/methodology/approach This paper is theoretical, but provides ethnographic anecdotes of the problems occurring during the rise of neoliberalism and academic capitalism in the public university. The successful use of the ELT and entrepreneurship centers is likewise explored anecdotally. Findings This paper illustrates the benefits of utilizing the ELT and entrepreneurship centers in two different university settings. Research limitations/implications While the sample sizes of this paper are small, the anecdotal examples provide the basis for reasoning by analogy. Practical implications This work illustrates two possible Follettian interventions that serve as a guide to assist university administrators and faculty to find common ground and better serve students and university communities. Originality/value The rise of academic capitalism and neoliberalism has devalued education and resulted in poorer educational outcomes and a modern generation with less intellectual capital. This is one of the first papers to utilize Mary Parker Follett’s theories of education and apply them to the impending identity crisis of the public university. The result is a win-win for both neoliberal administrators and faculty in the face of an impending identity crisis for the public university.

This paper uses observations from empirical articles and personal experiences of the authors to explore issues associated with the rise of neoliberalism and academic capitalism in the contemporary public university. It frames these issues as stemming from conflicting ontologies between academicians who adhere to the differentiated individual ontology and university administrators who favor the undifferentiated individual ontology. To overcome the disconnect, a differentiated relational ontology that adheres to principles of Mary Parker Follett and Alfred North Whitehead is proposed. The driving force behind this ontology can be highlighted through a communicated crisis, and a specific application of Follett’s differentiated relational ontology is Ensemble Learning Theory (ELT). A potential limitation of this study is generalizability, because the focus is centered on North American public universities and anecdotes are used to characterize a broader educational problem. This evolution is pertinent to academicians and administrators because the ontological impasse experienced in North American public universities threatens their existence as institutions, and has a broader and potentially negative impact on the quality of educational focus and output.

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